Getting the ax today from White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, 64-year-old strategist Stephen Bannon became the sacrificial lamb for the Aug. 12 Charlottesville, VA melee between White Nationalists and Black Lives Matter and Antifa [anti-Fascist, anti-racist] militant groups. With the media squarely against 71-year-old Donald Trump, he had no choice but to sacrifice Bannon, whose sympathies for the Alt-Right while editing Breitbart News earned him the racist label. Considered the genius behind Trump’s Nov. 8, 2018 stunning victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bannon was a lightning rod for the anti-Trump press, regarding Bannon as a White Supremacist. His only remote association to White Nationalists was his admission at Breitbart News that it served as a platform for the Alt-Right, a loose label for White Nationalists.
Bannon’s economic nationalism and anti-immigration message carried Trump to the White House but became such liability for Trump, the costs outweighed the benefits by far. Keeping Bannon around as Chief White House Strategist was a slap in the face to minorities, especially vocal groups like Black Lives Matter, painting Bannon and Trump as closet racists. Trump threw more gasoline on the fire telling a Trump Tower press conference Aug. 15 that both White Nationalists and leftist militant group were equally culpable for the violence in Charlottesville. Trump’s initial response to the Aug. 12 incident deplored racism, bigotry and violence on “many sides,” infuriating the press, members of Congress and activist groups. While denouncing the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other White Nationalists groups, Trump’s Aug. 12 news event threw the White House into chaos.
Whatever one says about Trump, he’s not politically correct, or, more importantly, strategic in the way he communicates. Instead of placating the press and Capitol with unequivocal denunciations of White Nationalists Groups, Trump antagonized practically everyone, renewing calls for his impeachment or resignation. Washington’s Russia hysteria is only exceeded by left wing nonsense about Trump as a racist. Trump’s press conference correctly identified that both sides mixed it up but didn’t make clear he finds the White Nationalist groups repugnant. Many Americans feel exactly as Trump that Civil War monuments represent a part of U.S. history not an affront to minorities. Getting rid of Bannon, at least temporarily, is better than removing a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Trump can’t have a logical discussion with the press
Demonizing Bannon was Hillary’s pre-election strategy to paint Trump and his associates as racists, something she did very well before Election Day. What Hillary forgot was that she already had the minority vote, essentially losing the white working class vote. No one doubted that Hillary’s team painted Trump as linked with White Nationalist groups. Much was made over the fact that the Alt-Right was voting for Trump, proving, at least to Hillary’s base, that he was indeed a racist. Quoting Bannon over-and-over that Breitbart News was a “platform” for the Alt-Right, hammered the connection that he was a racist. Trump’s Chief of Staff Kelly realized that Bannon had to go if there’s any shot a recovering what’s left of Trump’s credibility. Whether Kelly admits it or not, getting rid of Bannon won’t change the media narrative, reporting only negative news about Trump.
Nothing will change the media bias against Trump. Trump labeled the media “fake news” for letting political and special interest groups to infiltrate newsrooms, push pernicious propaganda and toss the press’s role to defend the First Amendment out the window. Spewing propaganda, major broadcast and print outlets violate the public trust by advancing political agendas, not disseminating unvarnished news to the public. When Trump got North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to stand down off his nuclear threats, the media said virtually nothing. Media only blasted Trump for inflaming the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Trump’s tough talk called Kim’s bluff, getting the dictator to back down. No one in the press gave Trump any credit for a successful piece of diplomacy, defending U.S. national security and deescalating a gathering national threat.
Axing Bannon throws the press and Capitol Hill some red meat, hoping to defuse the Charlottesville controversy. Getting rid of Bannon won’t change the media narrative that Trump’s a racist, not tuned in like former President Barack Obama to minority issues. Former co-workers of Bannon at Breitbart News vouched that he doesn’t have a racist or anti-Semitic bone in his body. To Alt-Left groups that have prevailed on the White House, they won’t be satisfied until Trump’s impeached or resigns from office. “White House chief of staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would Steve’s last day. We are grateful for his service and wish him the best,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders. Tossing Bannon under the bus was a last-ditch attempt to salvage a sinking ship, something not likely to turn things around.
